I just can't let this one go... it is infectious, jittery, shifting. All the more remarkable for its blending of percussion and guitar into what would normally be some kind of synthpop moment.
Fascinating.

Friday, February 27, 2015

Working with discarded books she has found in the street, San Francisco artist Alexis Arnold petrifies them in a crystal solution, making some rather lovely geode-like formations.

Arnold says, "The Crystallized Book Series addresses the materiality of the book versus the text or content of the book, in addition to commenting on the vulnerability of the printed book. The crystals remove the text and transform the books into aesthetic, non-functional objects. The books, frozen with crystal growth, have become artifacts or geologic specimens imbued with the history of time, use, and nostalgia. The series was prompted by repeatedly finding boxes of discarded books, by the onset of e-books, and by the shuttering of bookstores."

Top to bottom: The Alchemist's Handbook; All's Well That Ends Well; All's Well That Ends Well detail; Catcher In The Rye view and detail; Crime and Punishment; The Dictionary of Superstitions; Linux: The Complete Manual; The Autobiography of Benevuto Cellini

Thursday, February 26, 2015

“All art is autobiographical; the pearl is the oyster's autobiography.”
--Federico Fellini

“I don’t like the idea of 'understanding' a film. I don’t believe that rational understanding is an essential element in the reception of any work of art. Either a film has something to say to you or it hasn’t. If you are moved by it, you don’t need it explained to you. If not, no explanation can make you moved by it.”
--Federico Fellini

“I’m just a storyteller, and the cinema happens to be my medium. I like it because it recreates life in movement, enlarges it, enhances it, distills it. For me, it’s far closer to the miraculous creation of life than, say, a painting or music or even literature. It’s not just an art form; it’s actually a new form of life, with its own rhythms, cadences, perspectives and transparencies. It’s my way of telling a story.”
--Federico Fellini

Monday, February 23, 2015

I will let Dietmar Eckell, the photographer himself speak about his photo series Happy End:

"Happy End is a photo-project about miracles in aviation history - 15 airplanes that had forced landings but ALL on board survived and were rescued from remote locations. The planes have been abandoned in the middle of nowhere for 10 years and up to 70 years. It's part of my long term project 'restwert' (German for residual value) to document abandoned objects with fascinating backgrounds like cold war relicts [sic], Olympic sites, flooded churches, railroad tracks, never finished nuclear reactors, overgrown adventure parks etc. It started with my interest in the visual disruption of nostalgic technology in endless landscapes - but soon I got hooked on these planes/stories and spent over two years researching and documenting them. Aviation miracles are rare and the planes remaining out there are very remote - but the challenge was motivating and it was like a pilgrimage to get to these 'wonders' on 4 continents from Papua New Guinea to the Arctic Circle. My photography is not about documenting the planes condition & details but how they are embedded in nature after so many years. I try to capture the surreal beauty of these settings using high viewpoints or shooting through layers. Inspired by the shipwreck painters of the romantic period I look for dramatic skies, late light or fall colors to 'glorify' these wonderful planes."

Sunday, February 22, 2015

The Drents Museum in The Netherlands recently sent one of their objects--a reliquary holding mummified remains--to the Meander Medical Center for a CT scan and endoscopy. They discovered the mummified remains of Liuquan, a Buddhist Master from the Chinese Meditation School, who died around 1100. And during the endoscopy, the medical staff who graciously donated their time to this project made another wonderful discovery: inside the body cavity where internal organs would have been were found scraps of paper with Chinese characters, presumably prayers to accompany Liuquan's spirit.

Thursday, February 19, 2015

Today marks the start of the Year of the Goat (some translations claim it to be a sheep and some claim a ram, despite the fact that these are very different animals, but hey, no one said folk lore is an exact science!). The Year of the Goat is supposed to be one of peace and kindness. Let's hope...

Tuesday, February 17, 2015

Architect and designer Ignacio Cadena designed the stunning all (off) white restaurant Hueso for his brother, Chef Alfonso Cadena. Located in Guadalajara, Mexico, the walls in the space are collages of compartmentalized boxes that hold bleached bones and white cooking utensils. In fact, the name of the restaurant, Hueso means bone in Spanish. The concept is bold and starts on the outside of the renovated 1940s building which was clad in white ceramic tiles featuring graphic black lines that recall stitching. The name of the business is discreetly spelled out at the entrance. Even the bespoke plates are white with delicate black lines.

About Me

About "Oh, By The Way"

"Oh, By The Way" is my digital scrap book of things I like, things I would share with a close friend and say: “Oh, by the way, do you know of this artist/ clothing or interior designer/ model/ singer/ actor/ gorgeous man… or, have you seen this video/ photo/ film... or heard (or do you remember) this song/ band... or, read this book/ poem/ inspiring quote... or, visited this place/ restaurant/ famous building... or, have you heard of this amazing new scientific discovery?”

I am dedicated to posting the positive, the fascinating, the beautiful, the interesting, the moving, and the inspiring and uplifting. Sometimes I post cultural as well as personal observations, milestones, and remembrances. And just like life, all of these things may often have a bit of melancholy or even sadness in them, which is what makes our time here so lovely and bittersweet and precious.

Some of the photos, art, poetry, and prose are my own original work, credited with my initials, JEF. When it isn't, I always try to post links to the original source material, but often I find photos on the web that are not linked or other material that is not sourced. In these instances, I post them without malice since it is assumed that such things, by being globally posted on something as uncontrollable as the internet to begin with, are in the public domain. If you identify the source of an image that is not linked, please politely let me know (without accusing me of theft) and I will be happy to provide a link.

I hope to inspire and entertain my readers with things that inspire and entertain ME. There is a startling amount of beauty and creativity in the world and it enriches us all to participate in it.

All-time Favorite Films

2001: A Space Odyssey (Kubrick)

After Hours (Hysterical, hair-raising ride through NYC at night)

Amelie

American Beauty (Alan Ball)

Baraka (Stunning, transcending—the "spiritus mundi" on film)

Belle et Bete (Cocteau)

Big Sleep, The (The epitome of film noir)

Bringing Up Baby (Hepburn & Grant—the epitome of screwball comedy)

Cook, The Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover, The (Greenaway)

Crash (Cronenberg—DIFFICULT subject, not for everyone)

Don’t Look Now (Nicolas Roeg—ultimate modern gothic horror)

Drowning By Numbers (Greenaway)

Easy Rider

Edward II (Derek Jarman)

Erendira (From magic realist Marquez’ brilliant short story)

Eyes Wide Shut (Kubrick's last film)

Fearless (Jeff Bridges—life and death)

Funny Bones (Leslie Caron, Jerry Lewis, and the brilliant Lee Evans)

Holiday (Hepburn & Grant)

Howard’s End (The ultimate statement of the unfairness of class systems)